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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Bogey ‿︵‿︵‿︵
(PRESENT)
Kiara's words caught Avery's attention.
The blonde girl stood up straight, having had given John B a helping hand with taking off the scuba gear, and followed Kiara's eyeline to also spot the boat. It wasn't the police again, neither of the teenagers recognised it. Avery couldn't push away the feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach.
"I thought the marsh was closed" Avery spoke in a questioning tone, her eyebrows pinching together slightly.
"What are they doing here?" Kiara asked no one in particular.
"I don't know. Let's not stick around and find out" JJ replied, already moving towards the bowline. He glanced over at Avery and caught her eye for a moment before she looked back into the distance, watching the boat sail closer to them.
"Should we wait on 'em?" Pope dumbly queried.
"No," John B and Avery said in unison, both of them already seeing that whoever was driving the boat was most likely not up for a friendly conversation about the weather and fishing. The brunet sternly said, "we're not gonna wait on 'em. Go get the stern, go!"
"Are you joking?" Kiara pulled a face at the Heyward boy who obeyed and rushed over to the stern.
"JJ, please, hurry up" Avery almost whined, looking over to the boy pulling up the anchor that was holding the boat down. She scrunched up her nose and stepped up, reaching out for the rope to help him get it up quicker.
"Guys, don't wait for us" JJ called over his shoulder, fumbling with Avery.
A sigh of relief slipped out her mouth once she saw the hunk of mental rise from the water. JJ gently nudged her away to ensure that he wouldn't knock her while he picked it up and on board. She stepped back and listened to Pope's demand, acting as natural as she could, feeling the knot in her stomach tighten.
"Not to alarm anyone but they are following us!" Avery yelled over the loud rumbling of the boat's engine. John B had taken the controls and picked up the pace, hoping to create distance between them.
"Dude, you gotta go faster" JJ panicked, instinctively and blindly reaching out to find Avery who stood by him. His hand grasped hers and he tugged her closer to his body.
As John B steered the boat around a bend, Avery felt her feet slip from underneath her and squeezed JJ's hand. The action caused him to pull his hand from hers, briskly wrapping it around her waist while his other was wrapped around the mental frame, keeping them both from toppling.
